


If I Didn't Have Gills, I'd Drown in Your Eyes

by Drittsekk



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Romance, Violence, all the reds are mermaids, i mean tord is involved so, i use mermaid/merman/merfolk interchangeably, im honestly just winging it here, matt isnt dumb he just needs to pay more attention to things, mermaid au, more tags when i update/think of them oops, probably, thats going to happen at some point, the pat/paul is background, uh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:54:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drittsekk/pseuds/Drittsekk
Summary: summaries are hard look at the tags





	1. Chapter 1

Tord always preferred cold, icy waters. He was born in them, he was designed for them, he _thrived_ in them. So how he found himself in the relatively warmer sea around England was anybody's guess. He'd arrived a few years back, two others in tow, and claimed a territory without hesitation. The minuscule pod drove off any and all native merfolk and defended the area viciously.

It didn't take long for the locals to learn to avoid that stretch of water.

It took significantly longer for the humans to catch on.

He couldn't directly threaten or fight a human- not without intending on killing them and all witnesses.Too much hassle. Instead, he took to luring sharks towards the beach. Once there, all it took was a little blood in the water to start the screaming.

Even after the first attack, people continued to visit _his_ beach, stubbornly believing that it wouldn't happen again so soon. Tord lost track of how many attacks it took for them to figure out that swimming there was a death sentence.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Tord's eyes snapped open at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. He'd dragged himself up on the beach, below the overhang of a cliff, and had been relaxing in the soothing shade.

"I mean, weren't there a lot of shark attacks here or something?"

The same voice. It was coming from above, the owner presumably standing on the cliff. 

"Quit worrying, Tom! We'll be fine, if you see a shark just get out of the water. Besides, this is the only beach nearby we aren't banned from yet."

A new voice, this one higher pitched. The mermaid scowled, sitting up. So much for relaxing. Just how many people were up there? His scowl deepened as a third voice chimed in, obnoxious tone grating on his nerves.

"Well, _I_ don't mind. Look at that view! And this lighting is _perfect_!"

 _That's enough of that_ , Tord thought, pushing himself down the sand back to the water. Paul and Pat should be somewhere nearby, he'll have one of them go out and find a shark. Take care of these intruders before they get too cozy. Just as he finally slipped into the ocean, he heard a shout from above, followed by a deadpan 'Oops' and the telltale splash of something hitting the water. Darting beneath the waves, he snatched up the object before it could fall too deep, inspecting it in his hands. A small, rectangular device, one of those things he's seen humans staring at and talking into. It's not the first of its kind that he's found under the water, though this is the first to be in some sort of weird container.

The mermaid was prepared to toss the device aside when his grip shifted, the screen lighting up as one of the buttons on the side was pressed. This was another first. He'd never seen one of these still in working conditioned after being submerged. " _Holy shit_."

Completely forgetting about the trio of humans, Tord sped off to find his lackeys, keeping near the surface in fear that too much pressure would break the device before he could show it off.

* * *

 

" **Paul! Patryck!** " Their leader's shouts startled the two out of the conversation they'd been having, his tone demanding their attention. When was the last time they'd heard Tord sound so excited? Giving his partner a curious glance, Patryck swam up to the red-tailed merman, Paul quickly following behind. "What-" Pat was immediately cut off as the object of Tord's excitement was thrust in front of his face, causing him to recoil in fear of getting hit. He stared at it in silence before shifting his gaze to meet bright silver. "It's a phone." This is what the man was so eager to show them? It was nothing new, humans dropped these things off the sides of boats all the time.

Paul voiced those thoughts, giving a dismissive shrug. He was annoyed at their discussion being interrupted for typical human trash. "No, no, no, no. _Look_!" Tord pressed the power button again and grinned at the surprised looks he got. "This one WORKS!" That got their attention, shifting closer to look at the lit up screen. On it was a picture of a human with orange hair and blue eyes, a bright grin on his face. Judging from the position of his arm, it was easy to guess that he took the picture himself.

Satisfied with the reaction he got, Tord turned the device back towards himself, trying to remember what he's seen humans do. "Alright, let's see..." He pressed a single finger against the screen and dragged it to the right, careful that his nail didn't scratch the case that seemed to be keeping it safe. This seemed to be the right thing to do, as the screen changed to one with a lot of icons, the background a different picture of the same human. Paul and Patryck crowded around him, trying to see what he was doing, jostling him in the process.

"Watch it!" He snapped, accidentally pressing one of the icons. The busy screen was quickly replaced with a much simpler layout, though their attention was drawn to the biggest part of the screen- a blurry view of the ocean in front of them. Every change of direction moved the image as well, showing the amazed merfolk whatever it was pointed at. Tord shifted his grip as he turned, thumb brushing against the lower part of the screen. Everything went black for a split second before returning to the ocean view, confusing him. What just happened? He repeated the action a few more times, getting the same result.

"What are you doing?" Paul's gruff voice right next to his ear caught the smaller merman off guard, swearing as his grip faltered, the device slipping from his fingers and sinking fast. Tord took after it, but by the time he was able to grab it again, the screen wouldn't turn on. Looks like he was right about the pressure being an issue. Good mood ruined, he let the useless thing drop again, swimming back up and smacking Paul on the back of the head. "Good job, asshole. You're on shark duty next time."

* * *

 

 Matt moped the entire time they were at the beach, refusing to acknowledge Tom's halfhearted apologies. He'd been looking forward to taking lots of pictures- especially selfies- and he couldn't do that without his phone. So he just grumbled and watched his friends have fun until they decided it was time to head home. His mood lifted a tiny bit when they stopped at the store so Tom could buy him a replacement phone, but he was still bitter about the incident.

As soon as they arrived home, Matt went straight to his room, intent on having his new phone set up as quickly as possible. Connecting to the internet, activating it, downloading the cloud backup he thankfully had set up. He's not sure what he'd do if he had lost all the pictures he hadn't saved to his computer yet! He let out a sigh, walking over to his bed and flopping down on it, holding his phone above his face and opening the gallery, scrolling through some of the earlier photos. Tom knocked his phone into the ocean before he had a chance to see how his one selfie turned out, and he hoped it was saved properly. He quickly scrolled through the pictures, occasionally taking a moment to admire particularly nice ones.

Ah, yes, there it is! Matt smiled at the most recent picture of himself, perfect as always. The ocean made a truly beautiful background, really brought out his eyes. He swiped again out of habit, despite knowing there weren't anymore pictures- except there was. The ginger sat up quickly, furrowing his brow. It was clearly an underwater picture, a blurry blue mess. Maybe the phone glitched out in the water when it went too deep? Except that wasn't the only picture. Two more blurry ocean scenes, and one that, at first glance, appeared to be the same. Then he saw the arm. It was blurry and on the very edge of the picture, but it was clearly an arm. One with what looked to be a fin at the elbow, blurred pink standing out against the blue backdrop.

It took a few minutes of shocked staring for Matt to fully comprehend what he was looking at, but when he did, his face split into a wide smile. 

A mermaid.


	2. Chapter 2

"Edd, can I borrow your car?"

Matt held his breath, keys already in the pocket of his hoodie. His hand slowly crept towards the doorknob, waiting for the response.

"Sure, whatever."

The ginger practically squealed, rushing out the door and driving off. He wanted to get to the beach as soon as possible, mind still buzzing with last night's discovery. It was a real life mermaid, he was sure of it! And he was going to get more proof to show to the guys, knowing that the single blurry arm might not be enough to convince them. He had no idea how he was going to get the proof, but he'll deal with that when he gets there.

Arriving at the beach, Matt got of the car and stood at the cliff he'd lost his phone at, peering over the edge. Beautiful blue water broke against the sand and rocks, waves low and calm thanks to the minimal wind. He squinted, leaning over as far as he felt was safe. The water seemed to flow normally directly beneath where he was standing, instead of hitting the cliff face. Maybe there was something down there?

Mermaid business temporarily forgotten, Matt headed down towards the beach. He stuck close to the water as he walked towards the bottom of the cliff he'd been on, trying to get a good look. For once he was right! It looked like there was a little open space, mostly hidden from sight. He hastily removed his shoes and socks, tossing them further up the beach, hoping they stay dry. 

The moment he set foot in the water, there was motion. Something just past his vision sliding quickly into the ocean, displaced water splashing further up Matt's legs. Hurrying towards the hidden alcove, he caught sight of a translucent red fin seconds before it disappeared.

"...Hello?"

The ginger felt silly, calling out a greeting towards the ocean, but that was probably a mermaid, right? Once he was able to look at the sand beneath the cliff, he was sure of it. Something had clearly been laying there, and left in a hurry if the wet, clawed sand was any indication. "You don't have to hide! I'm not dangerous, or anything."

* * *

_Fuck._

Tord really had to stop trying to nap on that patch of sand, he almost didn't hear the approaching human. He floated deep enough that he couldn't be seen from the surface, carefully picking sand out from under his claws. That was a close one, he'd almost been seen.

Well, okay, part of him had been seen, or else that human wouldn't be yelling at the water. The merman snorted at the chosen words, as if he'd ever be worried about a human being dangerous. He's the one THEY should be worried about. He'd be amused if he wasn't so annoyed, recognizing the voice after a few moments. It was there the previous day, with two others, though it seemed to be alone this time. Strange.

He really wished he'd just set up that shark attack instead of getting distracted by that device.

Groaning, Tord tugged at his fins, for once wishing he couldn't hear so clearly what was happening above water. The human would Not. Shut. Up. The words droned together but the tone of it all was quickly becoming unbearable. Instead of doing the smart thing and just leaving his beach for the day, he let his impulses take over and surfaced a few feet away, out of immediate line of sight but still clearly visible.

"Hold Kjeft!"

He immediately regretting his decision when the human turned and stared at him, clearly in awe. Maybe it's because he had just been looking at the picture yesterday, but Tord immediately recognized that fiery orange hair and those bright blue eyes. The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, maintaining shocked eye contact. And then he saw that freckled face split into a wide grin, and he was gone. Far below the surface, heart pounding. Why didn't he just leave? Why the fuck did he just do that? Now the human's just going to tell others of its kind and the beach would be full of them again, and the waters would be swarming with even more, trying to find him.

No amount of shark attacks was going to fix this fuck-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's shit but whatever. no editing


End file.
